If you're worried about "wasting" the pill you could always try dissolving it in the syringe with some water. Depending on the pill it might take it a little bit, so I would try one pill in a syringe and see how long it takes to dissolve but if you did it that way you wouldn't have to worry about wasting the medication.

I'm glad treatment is going well and that you were able to get a feeding tube into her. At least this way she will for sure be getting nutrition and her medication in a non-stressful way.

If you can crush it and keep all of it, you'll probably have best luck that way.

-crush it-draw up the water you're going to dissolve it in with the syringe so you don't use too much water.-dissolve the crushed pill in the water (a smaller amount is better)-draw up the water/medication combination into the syringe and give -draw up a further small amount of water with the same syringe and give, in order to flush the tube and get any extra meds out of the syringe and tube

I'm not sure what medication you're giving but again, if you don't have instructions to do so, you may want to check if its ok via the tube with your vet.

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

Well now I feel a bit dumb. I looked back in our baggie of supplies from the vet and there are two little medicine syringes. I'm thinking I can put the crushed pills in one of those, add a couple of ccs of water, and shake to dissolve.

Thankfully, the pills are temporary. They've ordered liquid fluconazole, but it won't be here until Tuesday, so she's taking a different antifungal in the meantime. The other pill is an appetite stimulant, which hopefully won't be needed for very long.

This morning, she was HUNGRY. She ate a couple bites of food on her own, but I didn't let her keep going. I'd hate for her to eat too much at once and vomit up the tube. So she had a couple of bites herself, and a bit through the tube. I'll offer her some more food by mouth later today.

It's definitely a 2 person job if I can help it. She only wants pets and gets pissy when I'm not petting.

"In these bodies, we will live; in these bodies we will die.Where you invest your love, you invest your life." --Marcus Mumford

She had an "episode"-- she was acting a little woozy, but it was sort of hard to tell; she's been having a tough time getting used the neck brace-type taping on her feeding tube. Then my step-daughter was eating lunch when Bella shot out form under the bed, tackled the pee pad underneath her litter box, and went limp. I peeled her claws off the the pad. She was limp. I tried to put her upright and she couldn't stay standing.

We ran her into the E-vet. We wondered if she was having a seizure. He said it was likely that she was just having to work so hard to maintain oxygen levels that she sort of panicked and passed out.

She's staying in the E-vet's oxygen tank for the afternoon to let her little heart have a break from working so hard to keep everything going.

No stress whatsoever for this little girl from now on. Feeding will be a 2 person job. Period. And she can just stay in the bedroom.

"In these bodies, we will live; in these bodies we will die.Where you invest your love, you invest your life." --Marcus Mumford

Maybe you can do the burst feedings, say, if you are giving 15 cc's, give 5 cc's, flush, wait 10 mins. You should be able to do that in about 2 mins, and then you could give her time to recoup.

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

Would it be possible for you to rent an oxygen concentrator? I know my friend's mom who has congestive heart failure has her own... we recently bought one for our clinic. I was just thinking if you could potentially rent one, you could pre-oxygenate her before making her angry. You wouldn't even have to put a mask on her, just give her some blow-by while she's sitting on your lap or on the floor. It might be something to look into because it might be cheaper to have something like that at home vs. having to send her to the e-vet all the time.

It just surprised me. We're pretty lucky to have an E-vet 15 minutes from us, though.

Just checked in and they said she calmed down and is doing ok now. But they're going to take her out of the chamber around 5:30 and see if she starts panting and stressing again. If so, we'll talk about her staying overnight until I can get her to my vet. If not, then we'll bring her home, and I'll check in with my vet in the morning. If this is going to be a recurrent problem, I may look into a home unit. Thanks for that tip, Suzanne.

That's sort of what I ended up doing this morning, Malli-- she was getting nauseous, so I would give it a few minutes and come back to it. With 2 of us, she doesn't get so upset-- she's getting all the pets and attention from one person while the other pushes the food. It didn't help that I was fumbling with the pills. Now that I have a potential plan, with the little syringes, I think it'll be better.

"In these bodies, we will live; in these bodies we will die.Where you invest your love, you invest your life." --Marcus Mumford

Good thoughts.You just gotta think open minded about this... "we'll figure it out"

It so rains when it pours, doesn't it?

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

I was so happy that the vet let her stay there today so she could be monitored for another episode...but she came back this evening even more lethargic and out of it than she was this morning. She's really gone downhill in the last 24-36 hours; she's lost another 5 ounces since Friday morning. But she's taking her tube feedings well and her fever is down. I just gotta hope that this is her body's way of conserving energy so she can get better. I hope. This whole thing is making me sick to my stomach; it's miserable seeing such a young sweet kitty in such bad shape.

"In these bodies, we will live; in these bodies we will die.Where you invest your love, you invest your life." --Marcus Mumford

Bella's been going to kitty daycare at the vet all week-- they offered to keep her while we work so she can get extra feedings and go into the O2 cage if needed. So far, she hasn't needed to. On the one hand, things are good because she's become much more alert, moves around a little, her fluconazole is in, so her meds aren't quite as hard on her body now... on the other hand, I don't want her over-doing it and having a pass-out episode again.

She's getting all her meals through the tube since she just wouldn't eat, even with an appetite stimulant. She's up to 30+ ml of food 4 or 5 times a day, so that's good. And this morning, right after I pumped her full of her breakfast, she hopped off the bed and ate a few pieces of her kibble. She loves that crappy Purina Naturals (since she was an outside cat, and not all that good at protecting her bowl, she had to eat cheaper food than the others-- I can't feed the whole neighborhood high dollar food). Right now, I don't even care what she eats, as long as it's going in her mouth. 3 pieces is hardly worth a party, but it's one little tiptoe in the right direction.

Poor girl. She has a looong road ahead of her.

(ps-- those of you who have cats that are hard to get in or out of a carrier, this thing is amazing-- http://www.walmart.com/ip/SimplyDog-Pri ... s/11003743it was only $35. Of the many perks, the main one is that there is a zipper that goes along the outline of the ends AND under one of the long sides, so you can basically open it up to lay flat, though it actually maintains some shape. So when she doesn't want to get out, I just deconstruct the carrier around her; doesn't want to get in? unzip it all, set her on the pad, and build it around her nice and quickly. Plus the side opening is wide and not so claustrophobic, and I can open it on the front seat of the car to pet her while we drive. Considering she's had to go every day this week, and will need to go at a minimum weekly for a bandage change and then semi regularly for blood draws, this is the best purchase I've made in a while. )

"In these bodies, we will live; in these bodies we will die.Where you invest your love, you invest your life." --Marcus Mumford

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

We haven't weighed her in a couple of days-- though they may have weighed her when I'm not there. I plan on asking about that when I pick her up.

Today they're supposed to change her bandage, and I need to remember to ask about clogs. I made her food a little too thick last night, and had to back a little of it out. I called the E-vet at first, thinking it might be a clog, and all they said was push it through with water or bring her in and we'll remove the feeding tube. Yeah. I've heard the coke thing a couple of places, so I know there's something else to try. I just backed a little out and put the rest through the blender again. Sheesh.

"In these bodies, we will live; in these bodies we will die.Where you invest your love, you invest your life." --Marcus Mumford

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07